(Continued)  You have placed a treasure chest of Your gifts in the shrine of my heart. You have placed in that treasure gifts, traits, and abilities of Your choosing and number. Far be it from me to take credit for them, or claim to have deserved them, for I am unworthy. Kindle by Your Spirit the flame of piety and charity in my heart. Grant, I ask, that I be able to cover my heart with the ashes of humility. How insignificant is that praise which one man glorifies another? The one who is great in Your sight, O greatest Creator, is truly great. He who is pleasing to You is pleasing to the One who assigns a value to all things. But no one is pleasing to You unless he is displeasing to himself.

You are the Life of my life. You are the Soul of my soul. Therefore I leave my life and soul in Your hands and cling to You completely, with a humble heart. May Your eminence regard my lowliness. May Your highness regard my worthlessness [Psa. 113:4–7]. Oh why do I so desire to be praised by the world, since nothing in it is pure? Why do I glorify myself so much, since the yoke of sin so oppressively weighs me down? May a holy fear pierce my heart like a spike, so it will not be puffed up with the most dangerous illness, spiritual pride. May my countless sins ever be before my eyes, but may my good works, whatever sort they are, be forgotten. I am troubled by the memory of my sins more than I am pleased by the glory of any impure or imperfect good work which I have done. In You alone I rejoice and glory. You are my joy and glory for eternity, Amen. (The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.62-63)

Omnipotent and merciful God, You bitterly hate all arrogance. Help me to be a rose of charity and a violet of humility, so that I may spread a fragrant smell by works of love and think humbly of myself. What am I in Your sight, O Lord? Dust, ashes, a shadow, nothing. Therefore, since I am nothing in Your sight, grant that I consider myself nothing in my own eyes. Push back the inborn, swelling pride of my heart that I receive the dew of heavenly grace. For the rivers of Your grace do not ascend up lofty mountains; rather, they flow down to the low-lying valleys of the humble heart. I have nothing but weaknesses and transgressions. Whatever is good in me has come down to me from the font of Your goodness. I can claim for myself nothing whatsoever which is good, since in and of myself I have nothing good. The more highly I think of You, the more unworthy I must consider myself. Far, far be it from me, O kindest Lord, to be arrogant concerning the gifts You have given me and despise others because of them.  (Continued on Epiphany Two) (from The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.62-63)